"Nudity was never the problem because nudity isn't a problem," Hefner, who is the son of founder Hugh Hefner, posted on Twitter. "Today we're taking our identity back and reclaiming who we are."

Playboy previously told CNBC it adopted the non-nude policy to get more mainstream readers and advertisers. In May 2015, the company launched a safe-for-work app. Less than a year later, the magazine did away with naked women. The first issue in the new format was March 2016, which hit 1,200 more newsstands and had a 55.5 percent increase in advertising compared to the issue from the year before.